PAC BOT 1

Linux mini DAW / DSP platform / MIDI / CV Sequencer (reqires peripherals)

pointandclicksystems PAC Systems

Respect to Deftaudio who gave me the original inspiration for starting to produce this module.

Black or aluminum anodized face plates are available. This unit can be mounted upside down if you prefer, there is a screen orientation setting that will flip it upside down. We can also configure it with no name showing.

Updated configuration, new faceplate (smaller footprint). Works great, runs Linux DAWs and soft synths very well. Is made to hook up a USB class compliant sound card and midi device such as Expert Sleepers modules, or really, any class compliant USB audio/midi interface and can be used to control any CV based hardware module as well as pass audio and midi in and out. The screen is 5 inches diagonally and is very clear and bright. There is a high endurance micro sd card used as the boot drive which makes boot times low and takes up a very small space. There is one USB2 and one USB3 plug forwarded to the front panel and 2 USB2 ports free in the back of the unit for connection to sound card and other hardware. There is a heat sink and fan installed that keeps the CPU running around 55 Celsius and below in most circumstances,

a full size screen can be plugged into the exposed HDMI port. Mouse and keyboard can be USB RF style or Bluetooth, although basic USB is recommended for the most reliable performance.

There is a nearly exhaustive list of Linux music focused software (freeware and demo) included free of charge including an unregistered copy of Reaper (will work fully with or without registration), Renoise demo, Sunvox, Bespoke Synth, Cardinal, Carla, Surge, Helm, Noizemaker, OB-Xd, ZynAddSubFX, Dexed, Stochast, and many more synths and FX plugins that are compiled for aarch64, which is in the hundreds. Its literally chock full of great tools for audio and CV and MIDI of course.

The unit runs smoothly and without many problems. This unit is not problem free however. The list of issues is as follows:

• Bluetooth signal is not as strong as it should be but does work
• Browsing the internet will interfere with music programs because the browser uses a lot of CPU and RAM. Its recommended that you disable WIFI while working on music which can be done easily.
• USB buss power current availability is limited and your power hungry USB peripherals may need to be powered separately. a powered USB hub is recommended.
• This unit cannot be powered from the Eurorack rail and has a forward facing USB C plug and an over spec PSU included. There is internal access to the power input if you would rather hook it up inside the case. You must un-plug and re-plug this or power cycle to hard boot.

There is some hot glue in use on the rear to protect some fragile parts but you cant see it from the front.

I would describe this unit as robust and very usable. I can easily have 5 soft synth tracks and one sample based drum kit running in reaper with FX and still have plenty of room for more. The unit can be used to forward CV signals from Cardinal and other CV producing soft synths to effectively control hardware modules. This works very well. The unit can handle many inputs and outputs intended for CV or audio at once (my Expert sleepers modules provide 16 outputs and 10 inputs, but you can add even more).

Its possible with a small utility currently sold on a 3rd party website to send midi over standard network cable between multiple units (this is not netjack). This would allow you to use the second unit to act as a plugin synth or a remote virtual modular synth intended to control your hardware modules via CV signals sent to for instance, expert sleepers modules residing in the same rack.

In early 2024 I added a usb connection to a teensy and ran M8 Headless firmware, turning it into a DirtyWave M8 tracker. Raspberry Pi 4B is an ideal host. Im offering this as an upgrade if anyone wants it. I can even forward the micro SD to a slot on the front panel. Please just ask me.

If you have questions, join our discord at https://discord.gg/mPCjuN8Emq

https://pointandclicksystems.com/product/pac-bot-1/